Last updated: March 27, 2025
If your current DNA matches aren’t getting the job done, try targeted DNA testing for family history. This research strategy can help you put relatives on your family tree.
What is targeted DNA testing?
Sometimes your DNA research feels like it is just humming along. You have a good group of DNA matches, and you are using what you know about shared centimorgans and what your matches know about their family and you are making progress towards your goals.
But sometimes you get stuck. You get stuck because this whole DNA and genealogy thing is a group effort, and well, sometimes your “group” just isn’t contributing in the ways you need it to. Sometimes they aren’t writing back to your emails or posting a family tree.
But sometimes it is just because the right person hasn’t been tested. For example, let’s say you have narrowed your search for your 2X great grandfather down to a group of Wilsons who lived in North Carolina. But, they had lots of kids who had lots of kids, and it is really hard to tell which one is your ancestor. With your current group of DNA matches being all 4th cousins, there really isn’t any more they can tell you about your relationship to this family.
You need more matches. That means you may need to enter the realm of targeted DNA testing. Targeted testing is where you find the living descendants of the family you think are connected to and ask them to take a DNA test.
How to do targeted DNA testing for family history
Of course, what this means is that you will likely have to research the descendants of your most likely ancestors and identify their living kin. (Here are some tips on finding living people.)
Then you’ll have to approach a stranger, once you find their contact information, and ask him or her to take a DNA test. Here are three tips for that first contact:
1. Tell the story
You need to come up with a very succinct way to help your potential cousin understand what it is you are trying to accomplish. Write out two to three (compelling!) sentences that explain why this ancestor has been so elusive.
2. Help them see their role
You need to clearly communicate that it is pretty amazing that they, this living person today, can help you unlock a mystery that is decades old. Help them feel that they have the particular mix of DNA that could likely provide answers where traditional documents just can’t.
3. Tell them the risks
It is oh-so-important that your cousin fully understands what DNA testing can do: reveal relationships. You need to be very clear that taking a DNA test will reveal any biological relationships they have. You may want to download a consent form like the ones we’ve linked to in this post. This will help facilitate this conversation with your potential DNA cousin and make sure all your i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed.
Basically, when you feel like your group isn’t pulling its weight and giving you the information you need, you can create your own group of DNA matches with targeted testing.
Before you test more relatives
A note of caution: asking someone to take a DNA test is not something that should be taken lightly. Consider what you can learn without involving additional people as well as the ramifications for you and them that even just the conversation about testing may bring.
Connect better with your current DNA matches
Whether or not you try targeted testing now, I recommend you try (again) to communicate (more) effectively with the matches you already have. It’s tricky, I know. What do you say? What if they don’t respond? It can feel awkward and intimidating. Kind of like a first date.
That’s exactly what it’s like, and that’s how you should think about reaching out to your DNA matches. We explain it in our Contacting Your DNA Matches guide, Talk to Your DNA Matches Like a First Date. Click the link or image below to help yourself to a free copy!
